Daring Bakers' Challenge - September 2013: Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake

I can't believe it's been a year since my last post! So much had happened, I didn’t even have any time to pause and notice the world was passing me by. I am set to live in Hong Kong for another year, and I'm not complaining. I'm still head over heels with Hong Kong, and sometimes still feel like a newbie, exploring what this city has to offer. I recently just moved to my own place; it's a small studio but for a petite-sized me, I'm feeling super cosy and homey. I've set-up my kitchen to be functional and hopefully get back into baking.

I feel like I have such a struggle finding the intense passion in baking I once had in 2010. A part of me feels like it’s never coming back. Maybe that’s the way to go… Instead of searching or brainstorming ideas with myself on how to ‘recover’, maybe I should just accept my present and move forward. No more pressure in getting my blog going as when I first started this page; no more pressure of baking regularly. My aim is to bake because it’s my sweet escape and blog when I feel like sharing.

Enough rambling about my semi-personal issues, and on with the true essence of this post! Last time I participated in Daring Bakers' was January of 2011. It’s been a while, but I’m glad I am still welcomed to join the baking fun this month.

Blog-checking line: Imma of la Galletika was our Sept. 2013 Daring Bakers’ hostess and WOW did she bring us something decadent and delicious! Pastel de Tres Leches or Three Milk Cake, creamy yet airy, super moist but not soggy.. just plain delish!

This month I was introduced to a cake that I’ve never heard of before. While I was reading through the challenge, my taste buds were slowly escalating into a state of salivation. I love dairy, I always have. So the idea of soaking a cake in a mixture made of three kinds of milk just sounded completely divine! I’m not quite sure of the origin of this cake; all I know is, it is quite well-known around Central and South America. Essentially, it is made out of a sponge cake, sometimes butter cake, that has been soaked in a milk syrup consisting of condensed milk, evaporated milk and heavy cream, then served with fruits and whipped cream. The milk syrup may be infused with different flavours, but I followed the recipe from the challenge to a T, having the milk soaking liquid spiced with cinnamon and spiked with rum.

The flavour expectation I had for this cake did not disappoint! I chose mangoes to go with my Pastel de Tres Leches, and it was a perfect marriage. Even just by the smell of the cake, you would know it was an amazing piece of edible goodness. The richness and power of the dairy immensely flavoured in this cake would take you to a quick retreat to the Latin world. The only thing I would improve on next time is to not soak the cake with all the milk syrup; I think there was too much of the soaking liquid, and as a result some of the syrup was oozing out even after decorating the cake. Regardless of this minor thing, this is a cake definitely worth baking again.

‘Til my next baking episode!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - January 2011: Biscuit Joconde Imprime/Entrement

The Daring Bakers' Challenge started with a bang this 2011! Our host gave us a challenge that I couldn't resist making. It's a type of dessert that I love creating. When done with planning, patience and practice it's an elegant masterpiece - entrement!

Blog-checking lines: The January 2011 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Astheroshe of the blog accro. She chose to challenge everyone to make a Biscuit Joconde Imprime to wrap around an Entremets dessert.

Entrement is a composed  French dessert consisting of different components from dacquoise to mousse to creme brulee, anything you can think of, all put together in one showpiece work of art. For this challenge, one of the components we need to put on our entrement is a patterned joconde used as a lining. Joconde is a sponge cake that is made with almond powder, flour, eggs and powdered sugar. Patterns such as stripes can also be added to the joconde sponge by using a joconde decor paste. The decor paste has a very thick consistency, so it is really manageable to make all the patterns you can think of.

I've always wondered how pastry shops make lovely designs on their sponges especially those sleek stripes and perfect swirls. In the past, I've attempted to make my own sponge design by marbling different colored sponge cake batter; it worked out really nice, but my curiosity on how to make perfect lines still remained. Alas, this month's challenge came; answer to my long time mystery solved!

For my entrement, I made an Orange Cognac Mousse Joconde Cake with Dark Chocolate Mousse and Hazelnut Meringue Disc Center. I was so happy with how everything came out. The sketch I made translated to the finished cake. The only thing I wish is for a better pattern, but since I really didn't have much time to execute this challenge, I had to make use of what I have at home/body (I used my fingers to create my pattern). As a whole I love my cake; looking at my finished cake makes me so giddy! The taste of the whole cake was fabulous too; all the flavour components blended well perfectly. I mean what's wrong with an orange chocolate combo, plus the addition of cognac and hazelnut? The cognac and hazelnuts really heightened the whole cake's flavour profile. For me, the aesthetic of the cake looks close enough to be displayed in a pastry case in Paris. Pardon me if I'm self-complimenting, but I never thought I would have made a cake like this ever in my life.

I can't wait as to what's in store for the February challenge!

Components used for this dessert treat:

• Dark Chocolate Ganache
• Orange Cognac Mousse
• Dark Chocolate Mousse
• Hazelnut Meringue Disc
• Joconde Sponge

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - December 2010: Stollen

Christmas has just gone by, but I still have one Christmas-y thing to do - post my DB Christmas challenge.

 

I only used a quarter of the recipe given by our host, then made two small Stollens.

Blog-checking lines: The 2010 December Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie's Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers' to make Stollen. She adapted a friend's family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart's book.........and Martha Stewart's demonstration.

Stollen shaped like a wreath using kitchen scissors to form the segments as written in the challenge recipe.

Stollen is a German Christmas bread that contains dried fruits, citrus peels, nuts, and sometimes marzipan, and heavily dusted with powdered sugar. It is similar to fruit cake except it's a fruit bread. This was my first encounter with the Christmas Stollen, so I was really happy I was able to participate this month's challenge despite the busy season. Once I got my dough done, that's when I got excited for the Stollen. The aroma alone of the dough makes you want to eat it. Unfortunately, I had to be patient proofing the dough; all the waiting was definitely worth it.

My version of making a wreath shaped Stollen; I made tiny balls then arranged them alongside each other to form a circle.

I quickly took a bite as soon as I finished snapping some photos. Honestly, I wasn't so impressed at first bite, so I thought maybe if I left it to cool down then eat it the next day instead. Alas, my hunch was right. Stollen is one of those desserts better eaten when it has time to cool down. It goes so well with a hot cup of coffee. It does have a similar taste with fruit cake, but in a bread-like texture.

A photo of the inside of my Stollen; I don't think the yeast worked it's magic as it should have been fluffier.

On a different note, I'm still on my Christmas / New Year getaway in the 'land down under'. I'm really having a blast here with my family. I have many things to share with you guys, so I will definitely be blogging about my trip once I get back.

So how did you spend your Christmas? I hope you all had a very merry one!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - November 2010: Crostata

A little update before blogging about my DB challenge: My left hand is still recovering from the burn; it means my hand is still bandaged although not as bad as the picture in my previous post. I now have four of my fingers out of the bandage, and the bandage just goes up to my wrist instead of my arm. I still can't use my left hand normally though because my thumb is positioned in a certain way by the bandage therefore not allowing it to move. Good news is the doctor is happy with the progress of my burn, so pretty soon, I shall be back in the kitchen baking more sweets!

In the meantime, I had my H acting as my sous chef for this challenge. At first I decided to miss out on this month's challenge, but the thought of pastry cream tart alone made me salivate, so I kept on pondering how I could make it happen. Good thing my H volunteered to be my second hand, although I did have some hesitations because my H and I don't work so well in the kitchen arena. His quirks and my quirks don't mesh well in cooking/baking. I'm quite strict, focused and theoretical, while he's more easygoing and experimental. Anyway, despite all that, we gave it a go; everything worked perfectly. He was a good support; he wanted me to make most of this challenge myself, so he was just quietly watching me bake and assist on things he knows I cannot do with one hand i.e. slicing the butter into cubes, scraping the dough that has been stuck on my hand and putting in/taking out the crostata from the oven... oh, and the dishes!

Blog-checking lines: The 2010 November Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Simona of briciole. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers' to make pasta frolla for a crostata. She used her own experience as a source, as well as information from Pellegrino Artusi's Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well.

Crostata is basically an Italian version of a tart, but what makes it a crostata is the use of a specific sweet pastry called pasta frolla. I've become loyal with Martha Stewart's pate brisee recipe when I'm making any sorts of pies and tarts, so to try a new kind of pastry is refreshing. I have to admit that I do kind of like the pasta frolla better than pate brisee. Just a simple reminder for me to not get stuck in my own ways; always try to explore new possibilities of using something else other than what I'm used to, so I have much to thank for from this challenge.

I've thought long and hard as to what filling I should make for my crostata. In the end, the most simple choice warmed my appetite - pastry cream filling; in Italy, this specific crostata is called crostata con la crema. The pasta frolla recipe that our host, Simona, gave us had lemon zest incorporated in the dough, but I decided to use the kiss of orange zest instead. As for my pastry cream, a very classic vanilla pastry cream. So could you just imagine an orange tang of crust topped off with a flow of incredibly creamy vanilla pastry cream? I say that's utter deliciousness!

Oh, I got some leftover pasta frolla dough as well as vanilla pastry cream, so I decided to make it into an empanada. Empanada is a semicircle pie with either savoury or sweet stuffing, which is popular in Spain and Portugal, as well as countries that has been colonized by both countries i.e. Philippines and most Latin countries. Anyway, my empanada was not stuffed but rather filled with vanilla pastry cream; an absolute treat.

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - October 2010: Doughnuts

I have never been comfortable with making breads at all, and this month's DB challenge got me facing my fear. Our challenge this month - doughnuts! Yes, doughnuts are delicious; one of the best comfort foods ever, but I would rather buy from a shop than make it myself because I'm not confident in the arena of any yeast product.

However, there's a reason why I joined DB. It's to push my boundaries in baking, and face making pastries, desserts or bread that I wouldn't normally do. So here I am... baker!

Blog-checking lines: The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

Since our host provided four recipes to choose from, I've decided to choose Kate Neumann's bomboloni recipe. Bomboloni is a Tuscan version of filled doughnuts, except that the filling is piped on the top of the doughnuts instead of the sides, which we normally see with filled doughnuts.

I've psyched myself for this challenge; I wasn't anxious at all when I was making the dough for the bomboloni. I was also following the recipe down to a tee. I guess even if I was mentally ready to face the doughnut challenge, I was subconsciously nervous. Hence, it showed on my doughnuts. When I bake, I normally use my instinct to see if things are going smoothly, but in this case, I was so glued in with the recipe. I didnt' trust my judgement when I saw that my yeast might not have foamed up the way it should. I just continued following the recipe.

As a result, my doughnut was a flop. I was only able to make half of what the actual yield for the recipe should produce. My doughnuts came out really dense and heavy, but the taste was still good. So I decided to still continue filling and glazing my bombolonis.

So for my bomboloni, I dusted their top with powdered sugar, then filled them with pastry cream. For the glaze, I piped alternate circles of dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache. The taste of the final bomboloni was really really good! The only down side was how heavy the actual doughnut was. I guess practice makes perfect; I would definitely be making another batch at some point. This time, I'll trust myself when I think something is not right before it becomes too late.

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - September 2010: Decorated Sugar Cookies

Ay yay yay... Just came home from my holidays; been really busy lately that's why my blog has gone quiet for a couple of weeks, but now I'm back just in time to post my DB challenge.

 Blog-checking lines: The September 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Mandy of "What the Fruitcake?!" Mandy challenged everyone to make Decorated Sugar Cookies based on recipes from Peggy Porschen and The Joy of Baking.

  

The theme for the sugar cookies is 'September'; basically whatever September means to you, be it spring, autumn or back to school. For me, this year's September means friendship; my girl-friends and I are in a long distance friendship. We live in different countries (Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Korea and Philippines) now, so having girls night out or coffee dates are close to none. One of my girls, CT, got married this September, and everyone, including me, made sure we're all complete for the special day... reunion at last!

I was actually thinking of what to bake for the girls as a little something from me. So this challenge was really handy. I gave the girls personalized cookies by piping their initials on the cookies. Piping job is not an easy task at all. I absolutely respect sugar cookie decorators because this job involves a lot of patience, creativity and precision. My first reaction when I saw this challenge was - 'easy'. I was proven completely wrong! I definitely have loads of improvement to do with my piping. Despite the nonidentical pipings, the cookies tasted fabulous. I baked some extra for personal munching!

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - August 2010: Ice Cream Petit Fours / Baked Alaska with Brown Butter Pound Cake

It's that time of the month again... DB challenge is to be revealed! I can't believe how time just swished by so quick. Before you know it, it's December again (well, let's not exaggerate). This month's challenge gave us a choice either to make petit fours, Baked Alaska or both. I decided to go for the Baked Alaska just so I can play with some flames! Before I continue my blog, I shall post the mandatory blog checking lines for this challenge.

Blog-checking lines: The August 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Elisa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elisa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa's challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz's "The Perfect Scoop".

There's basically three main components to a Baked Alaska; ice cream atop a cake then altogether fully encased with snowy meringue. The meringue is then torched or baked until brown in color; it is sometimes served flambéed. For this challenge, the cake part of our Baked Alaska has to be the beurre noisette (brown butter) pound cake. I have no complaints in using this pound cake recipe; it was a really delectable butter cake with a subtle nutty taste from the brown butter. The taste of the cake actually reminded me of the infamous blue tinned Royal Dansk Danish butter cookies that I used to gorge indulge when I was young; it certainly brought back childhood memories! 

  

I chose hazelnut praline cream cheese as the flavour of my ice cream for simple reasons. Firstly, hazelnut praline to compliment the nutty pound cake. Then secondly, cream cheese because I have bountiful supply of it! I don't know if you have noticed, but most of my blog post for this month had some cream cheese factor. It wasn't planned or anything; I just saw a good 2-for-1 bargain on the grocery. I know two packs of cream cheese is not much, but mind you most of the time I just bake for two, so two packs of cream cheese does go a long way in my household! Lastly, the sound of hazelnut praline cream cheese does make me salivate!

I've prepared the meringue, all my components were set; the time had come to play with my torch (bought specially for this challenge)! I really really had a blast, and it definitely brought out the kid in me. All these flames gave me a fiery urge to go all daring with the glow of heat. The rum was out, and I had a tea cup filled with dazzling blaze of flambéed rum ready to be poured onto the toasted snow. I might have gone overboard though as the scarf I used for the backdrop of my picture caught some flame, so now it has an incy wincy hole. I must admit it was my favourite scarf, so I was really disappointed. I had no choice, but to look at the brighter side of things - my scarf has more meaning to it now than it had! Good self comfort?

Anyway, this was a really fun and exciting challenge. To be honest, when I first saw the challenge, I wasn't all enthused. I was like, "ice cream and cake... didn't we just do that last month?" Nevertheless, I decided to join in the fun, which I'm glad I did. The waves of fire made this challenge interesting! Looking forward to what next month's DB host has up his/her sleeves; hope it's something new!

I sprinkled some hazelnut praline powder on the crater of my Baked Alaska.

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - July 2010: Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake

Blog Checking Lines - The July 2010 Daring  Bakers' challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita's world - life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that's then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

The original concept of this month's challenge was to use the Swiss rolls to line a bowl, making the end product a dome shaped ice cream cake that's encrusted with Swiss rolls. Even though I do love the encrusted Swiss roll look, I just recently made something really similar - Charlotte Royale.

Charlotte Royale

I didn't want to do the same thing in a short period of time, so I gave my own twist to this challenge by just putting the Swiss rolls on top. I wanted to still stay as close as possible to the challenge, so I piped strawberry swirls around the ice cream cake as a tribute to the swirl galore.

I was having a hard time deciding on what flavour profile I'll make for this cake, so I got inspiration from my H. In the end, we both agreed to a banana split theme - chocolate Swiss roll filled with luscious strawberry jam atop layers of vanilla ice cream, chocolate fudge center and banana ice cream.

Everything went very well together. The most interesting part of this challenge was making the ice cream. Sunita gave everyone a recipe for making ice cream without using an ice cream maker. So from that, I made my home made ice cream, which was really really fun to do!

I had a couple of Swiss rolls, ice creams and fudge leftover, so I also made mini swirl ice cream cakes. I'm looking forward for the next DB challenge; hope it will be as interesting as this one.

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte

Daring Bakers' Challenge - May 2010: Piece Montée

The May 2010 Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Cat of Little Miss Cupcake. Cat challenged everyone to make a piece montée, or croquembouche, based on recipes from Peter Kump's Baking School in Manhattan and Nick Malgieri.

Piece montée (French: mounted piece) can mean two things. First of, it can mean an ornamental pastry used as centerpiece for banquets and parties. It is made for merely decorative purposes. It is constructed out of blown sugar, pulled sugar, crystallized fruits, petit fours, marzipan, chocolate, etc. This type of piece montée reached the height of it's popularity in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Piece montée can also refer to a classical French dessert called croquembouche (French: crisp in the mouth). Croquembouche is a conical shaped dessert made out of stacking cream puffs that has been filled with rich cream filling and dipped in caramel. It can then be decorated with spun sugar, nougatine, flowers, ribbons, etc. Croquembouche are traditionally served at weddings, baptisms and first communions.

In this challenge case, piece montée is pertaining to croquembouche. The recipes Cat provided for this challenge is really really good. The cream puffs 'puffs' really well, pastry cream is easy to follow, and the hard caramel is not prone to crystallize.

I have always loved making cream puffs. It's actually the first "complicated" dessert I made; I say complicated in the sense that it has different components. Although I have made them tons of times, I have never really made a croquembouche by myself. So that was the main challenge for me, to create a nice croquembouche. Oh, and face my fear with making caramel!

I have made two attempts for this challenge. The first one was filled with vanilla pastry cream and the second one was filled with lemon creme chantilly. Both are as equally as delicious, but I am a bit bias with the lemon creme chantilly simply because I love lemon flavoured anything...

With this challenge, I wanted to make a very elegant show piece. I'm not sure if was able to succeed on that one, but I did enjoy making it. Then I wanted to make a small cute version as well; that's when I thought of putting two swans on top of the croquembouche. I'm quite pleased with the second one except one of the swans broke it's neck.

Croquembouche is such a lovely show piece. Although I'm not really fond of eating them because I find it too sweet with all the caramel that's been used to 'glue' everything together.

Over all, this challenge was really fun. The most enjoyable part for me was the caramel part. I'm not so scared of making caramel as I was before anymore. It's not the burning bit that I have issues with; it's the anxiety I always have whether the caramel will come out right or will it be a disaster with the crystallization as I'm cooking it. I have finally found a good recipe.

Bisou bisou,

Charlotte